Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine (Lubow Jowa, Treasurer) records

Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine (AHRU) was formed in 1979 with the mission of drawing attention to human rights problems in the Ukrainian SSR. It was instrumental in lobbying for the creation of the US Congressional Commission on the Ukraine Famine in 1984, and in helping to defend John Demjanjuk. Lubow Jowa served as Treasurer and active member of the AHRU in the 1980s. The collection consists primarily of newspaper clippings, brochures, reports, and ephemera related to AHRU activities, as well as some correspondence and other organizational records.

Summary Information

Creator Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine
Creator Jowa, Lubow
Title Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine (Lubow Jowa, Treasurer) records
ID g.34
Dates 1983-1987
Quantity 0.5 Linear Feet, 2 boxes
Languages Primarily English, with some individual items in Ukrainian.
Repository Ukrainian History and Education Center Archives

Biographical / Historical

Lubow Jowa (Любов Йова, Liubov Iova) is a toxicologist and Ukrainian American community activist. She was born in New York City on October 13th, 1955, and attended the University of Rochester, graduating 1976 with BA in Biology. She received a Masters in Biochemistry from George Washington University in 1979, and a Ph.D. in Toxicology from Rutgers University and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 1986. She worked for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the California Environmental Protection Agency as a toxicologist. In the 1980s, she served as Treasurer and active member of the Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine.

Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine (AHRU) was formed in May 1979 by trustees William Bahrey, Walter Bodnar, Michael Chaikivsky, Daniel Marchishin, Ihor Olshaniwsky, John Oryniak, and Ewhen Perejma with the mission of drawing attention to human rights problems in the Ukrainian SSR and to assist the efforts of the Kyiv-based Ukrainian Public Group to Promote and Implement the Helsinki Accords. AHRU reached its peak of activity in the 1980s under the leadership of Ihor Olshaniwsky, but continued to remained active after Ukrainian independence in 1991. It was instrumental in lobbying for the creation of the US Congressional Commission on the Ukraine Famine in 1984, and in helping to defend John Demjanjuk from accusations of being a guard at the Nazi death camp in Treblinka (he was convicted in 1988, but the ruling was overturned by the Israeli Supreme Court in 1993 based on exculpatory evidence). [The Ukrainian Weekly, December 26, 2004, No. 52, Vol. LXXII; M. Kuropas, "Ukrainians and Ukrainian Americans, 1940-Present", in "Immigrants in American History: Arrival, Adaptation, and Integration", Elliott Robert Barkan, ed., p. 1359]

Scope and Contents

The collection consists primarily of newspaper clippings, brochures, reports, and ephemera related to AHRU activities lobbying for the establishment of the U.S. "Commission on the Ukraine Famine", the legal defence of John Demjanjuk, and support for Ukrainian political prisoners in the Soviet Union. It also includes some correspondence and other organizational records.

Arrangement

Arranged in three series as follows:

  1. United States Commission on the Ukraine Famine
  2. Defense of John Demjanjuk
  3. General reports and activities on behalf of Ukrainian political prisoners

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Published citations should take the following form: Identification of item, date (if known); Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine (Lubow Jowa, treasurer) records; box number; folder number; Ukrainian History and Education Center Archives, Somerset, New Jersey.

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for researcher use. Please contact the archivist (archives@ukrhec.org) for more information and to make arrangements.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright restrictions may apply.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Donated by Lubow Jowa.

Controlled Access Headings

Organizations

  • United States. Commission on the Ukraine Famine

Subjects

  • Political prisoners
  • Famine (Ukraine : 1932-1933)

Genres

  • Clippings (Books, newspapers, etc.)
  • Ephemera

Container List

Series 1.  United States Commission on the Ukraine Famine, 1983-1986.

Scope and Contents

Materials related to the establishment of the U.S. Congressional Famine Commission on the Holodomor.
  • box 1 folder 1
Series 2.  Defense of John Demjanjuk, 1985-1988.

Scope and Contents

Includes original letter by John Demjanjuk sent from prison in Israel, as well as material related protests against the American Bar Association's cooperation with the Association of Soviet Lawyers.
  • box 1 folder 2-4
Series 3.  General reports and activities on behalf of Ukrainian political prisoners, 1984-1987.

Scope and Contents

Includes reports and materials related activities on behalf of Ukrainian political prisoners and support of the Helsinki Accords. Also contains some financial records and general correspondence. Also includes an issue of Horizon: Ukrainian Students' Review (1958-59) belonging to Lubow Jowa.
  • shared-box 2 folder 1-3